Takeshi Obata facts for kids

Takeshi Obata (born February 11, 1969) is a famous Japanese manga artist. He often works as an illustrator, drawing the pictures for stories written by others. He became well-known around the world for his manga series Hikaru no Go (1999–2003), which he created with writer Yumi Hotta.

He is even more famous for Death Note (2003–2006) and Bakuman (2008–2012). For these popular series, he teamed up with writer Tsugumi Ohba. Takeshi Obata has also helped many other manga artists learn and grow. Some of his students include Nobuhiro Watsuki, who created Rurouni Kenshin, and Yusuke Murata, the artist for Eyeshield 21.

Takeshi Obata's Journey as a Manga Artist

Takeshi Obata always loved to draw, which is why he chose to become a manga artist. When he was a child, he enjoyed reading Cyborg 009 by Shotaro Ishinomori many times. His very first manga was published in his elementary school newspaper when he was in third grade. It was a story about a hero who could turn into a pocket warmer.

Early Success and First Series

Obata first got noticed in 1985 when he won a prize in the Tezuka Award. This was for his short manga story called 500 Kōnen no Shinwa. He then joined the team at Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. There, he learned from another artist named Makoto Niwano.

In 1989, Obata started his first major series, Cyborg Jii-chan G. For this series, he both wrote the story and drew the pictures. After this, he began working with other writers, focusing on his amazing drawing skills.

Creating Popular Manga Series

Sakon, the Ventriloquist, which he created with writer Sharakumaro, was his first work to be turned into an anime TV show. After that, he teamed up with Yumi Hotta to create Hikaru no Go. This series won the 1999 Shogakukan Manga Award and the 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Hikaru no Go was very successful, with 25 million copies of its collected volumes sold. It was also made into an anime and was the first of his works to be released in North America.

The Success of Death Note

In 2003, Takeshi Obata started working with Tsugumi Ohba to create Death Note. This manga became his biggest hit ever. Over 30 million copies of Death Note have been sold worldwide.

Death Note was also adapted into an anime series, five live-action movies, two live-action TV dramas, and even a musical. Obata's detailed artwork helped make the series incredibly popular.

Other Notable Collaborations

From 2006 to 2007, Obata worked as the artist for Blue Dragon Ral Grad. This manga was based on the fantasy video game Blue Dragon. In 2007, he drew a short story called "Hello Baby" with writer Masanori Morita.

A year later, he worked with Nisio Isin on "Urōboe Uroboros!". Nisio Isin also wrote a novel related to Death Note.

Bakuman and Recent Works

Obata reunited with Tsugumi Ohba for Bakuman, which ran from August 2008 to April 2012. This manga was special because it was one of the first from its publisher, Shueisha, to be released online in many languages before being printed outside Japan. By May 2014, over 15 million copies of Bakuman were in print.

In 2014, he drew a manga version of All You Need Is Kill with Ryōsuke Takeuchi. He also worked with Nisio Isin again on a short story called "RKD-EK9".

From 2015 to 2021, Obata created another series with Ohba called Platinum End. This manga ended in January 2021 and had over 4.5 million copies in circulation by December 2020. An anime version of Platinum End started airing in October 2021. In October 2021, Obata began a new manga series called Show-ha Shoten! with novelist Akinari Asakura. This series is about owarai, which is a type of Japanese comedy.

Other Creative Contributions

Besides his manga work, Takeshi Obata has also designed characters for video games, like Castlevania Judgment. He has also illustrated several light novels, which are short Japanese novels with illustrations.

He designed characters for anime versions of classic Japanese novels, such as No Longer Human and Kokoro. These were part of the Aoi Bungaku anime series. Obata also drew manga pages that were shown in the 2015 live-action movie based on Bakuman. These drawings were later published in a special art book. In 2016, he designed a new CGI character for the live-action movie Death Note: Light Up the New World.

Art Books

• Aya - Hikaru no Go Illustration Collection (April 2002)
• Blanc et Noir (May 31, 2006)
• Eiga Bakuman. Takeshi Obata Illustration Works (October 2, 2015)

Awards and Recognition

Takeshi Obata has received many awards for his amazing work:

• 1985 Tezuka Award for "500 Kōnen no Shinwa"
• 1999 Shogakukan Manga Award for Hikaru no Go
• 2003 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Creative Award for Hikaru no Go
• 2008 Eagle Award for Favourite Manga for Death Note

See also

In Spanish: Takeshi Obata para niños